The Past Will Haunt You
by angeld34
Summary: In the Changed Future the Charmed Ones learn that the Past doesn't always stay in the past, especially when it has to do with Chris' Destiny.
1. The Beginning

**The Past Will Haunt You**

"Chris, it's your birthday! I know you have plans to go out with your friends! Go! I can clean up." Piper told her son as she picked up more dirty dishes and walked into the kitchen.

This night had been an unusual one in the Halliwell Manor. Everyone had been there for the dinner. Phoebe and her husband Coop and their three children: Prue, age 20, Patty, age 18, and Pen, age 12. Paige and her husband Henry and their three children: Henry Jr, age 18, and Stacey and Lucy, age 16. And of course Piper and Leo and their three children, Wyatt, age 24, Chris age 23 and Melinda age 19.

All 15 members of the Halliwell family had met for dinner in honor of Chris' 23rd birthday. While Phoebe, Paige, and Piper had remained close, and their children were more like siblings, as opposed to cousins, several of their children were either in college or nearly there, so the family hadn't had as many dinners together lately. But Chris' 23rd birthday, and subsequent anniversary of his death, was an occasion that neither Paige nor Phoebe had allowed their families to miss without actually giving them the reason. Even Chris had no idea why his other had insisted on a family dinner.

"Mom, I'm not leaving you to clean up after everyone on your own. Wy and Lyn have finals to study for, and Dad is doing his grades. This won't take that long, and I'll be on my way." Chris said. _This is why it made no sense for us to have a huge dinner this close to the end of the semester,___Chris thought, but did not say aloud, having had this argument several times in the days leading up to his birthday. While it wouldn't affect him as much as his cousins and siblings, since he was taking a year off trying to decide where he wanted to go with his college degree, his cousins were all still in school, of one kind or another, his sister was working towards her Bachelor's degree, and his brother was working on his graduate degree, so they were all affected.

Chris picked up some more dishes and headed into the kitchen where Piper was already washing dishes. But with her back to him, he did not see his mother's smile as she thought about how much her baby had grown.

Minutes passed with Piper washing dishes and Chris bringing her more. Her thoughts of the past were interrupted by the sudden crash of dishes breaking in the dining room. Piper ran into the room, her hands outstretched and ready for the demon she was sure she would see. What she saw instead made her blood run cold.

Chris was kneeling on the floor, dishes broken in front of him, his hands pressed against his left side.

Piper ran to her youngest son, kneeling in front of him, ignoring the dishes. "Chris!" Piper tried pulling Chris' hands away from his stomach, but Chris began to pull away from her and fall towards the ground and into unconsciousness.

So focused on Chris, Piper didn't even hear Wyatt orbing in. "Mom, what's wrong with Chris? He's in so much pain!"

"I don't know, heal him!" Piper demanded.

Wyatt rushed to his brother, but as he got within 2 feet an unseen force pushed him back, flying towards the front door. "What the hell?" Wyatt spared his mother and brother a glance for a few seconds watching as his mother attempted to wake Chris up. Wyatt orbed to his brother from the opposite side and reformed in the backyard, after his orbs crashed through the now broken windows.

"Paige! Paige!" Piper screamed. "Get your father, Wyatt! Paige!"

Wyatt orbed back to the dining room, far from his brother and then called aloud. "Dad."

At the same moment Paige Matthews and Leo Wyatt orbed in – Paige with a look of worry at her sister's cries and Leo with confusion as the sudden act of being orbed with no warning.

Paige and Leo saw the devastation in the room and were moved into action towards the man they had seen die 23 years earlier.

"What happened?" Leo asked as Paige held her hands over Chris – but no glow came.

"I don't know. I heard a crash and when I came in he was holding his stomach. Why isn't it working?"

Seeing his father and aunt have no problem, Wyatt tried one more time to get to his baby brother but again the unseen force threw him in the opposite direction.

"Wyatt! Couch!" At Paige's commanded Wyatt crashed on the couch in the parlor, instead of the wall he had been aiming for.

"There's nothing wrong." Paige finally said, sitting back.

"What do you mean?" Piper asked.

"He's in pain and he's unconscious, that's not 'nothing wrong'." Wyatt insisted.

"I mean he's physically okay. There are no physical injuries. Even from where he was stabbed." Paige clarified, "I can check with the elders and see what they know."

"Wyatt, can you orb your brother onto our bed?" Piper asked after nodding to Paige.

Wyatt, completely afraid for his brother, and not understanding what was going on, as Chris had never been stabbed. He knew all of Chris' magical injuries and being stabbed wasn't one of them. Wyatt waved his hand intent on orbing his brother to his parents' room. Instead he felt the magic come back at him and orb him. Wyatt was able to counteract the magic and reform in front of his parents. "I can't. Something won't let me near him, and the magic just comes right back at me."

"I'll do it on my way up there," Paige said and a moment later Paige and Chris were gone. Piper, Leo, and Wyatt ran upstairs and Wyatt watched from the doorway as his parents went up to the bed, one on either side of Chris.

"Mom? Dad?" Wyatt asked, hating the way his brother was so still. "What's going on? Why can you guys get close to him and I can't?"

"Wyatt, I'm not sure why you can't get close, but I really believe Chris is going to be okay. He's strong, he's a Halliwell." Their mother stated.

"That didn't matter last time," Leo protested, "he still died."

"Leo!"

"Chris died? Someone really needs to tell me what the hell is going on!" Wyatt demanded, pulling out a rarely seen side of his personality.

"Wyatt, we will tell you. But right now we need to make sure Chris is okay." Piper said. "I can't explain, I just... We need to tell you both together."

Wyatt shook his head and sat on the floor, just watching his parents and brother, and waiting for some kind of an answer from Paige, or his brother to wake up.


	2. Explanation

Chapter 2: The Explanation

To Wyatt if felt as if years had past, but it was probably only minutes before Page orbed back into the room. And before she was completely reformed, Wyatt heard her say "He's going to be okay. He is; he's not dying."

"Then what's wrong?" Wyatt asked.

Paige looked from Wyatt, to Piper, and then to Leo, struggling with her next words.

"Well," Piper insisted.

"He's getting his memory back," Paige said softly, tears in her eyes.

Instantly all three had their own reactions. Leo shook his in disbelief, Wyatt just asked, "What? What memories?" and Piper yelled, "No!"

"They said that he will wake up on his own, and when he does he'll have all the memories of the other timeline, including those of his time in the past. They're not exactly sure how the memories will be accessible, but they'll all be there." Paige continued.

"Those memories are going to destroy him! He's had no preparations for them." Piper protested.

"And whose fault is that, Piper?" Paige retorted. Over the years Leo and the Charmed Ones had talked about that very issue several times.

"Ours. We all made the decision not to tell them. We made the decision, we were protecting them," Leo responded, trying to offset an argument between his wife and her youngest sister. "Piper, we need to tell Wyatt and Melinda before Chris wakes up. We don't know how he's going to react, and they need to be prepared."

"This is going to destroy them. Why are They making this happen to him, to them?" Piper asked, referring to her sons.

"They say They're not doing it. They said that this is part of his destiny, and that without those memories he can't fulfill his destiny." Paige responded.

"I don't care about his destiny!" Piper retorted, never one who held a lot of stock in destiny, caring more about her family. "Who is he going to be when he wakes up? My baby? Or the man who gave up everything, including his life, and had his own mother kick him out of his home?"

"No one knows. But They believe he'll have both sets of memories, the good and the bad." Paige said, knowing that nothing she or anyone else could say would ease her sister.

"Wyatt, go get your sister, we'll explain everything when you come back." Leo instructed. After Wyatt left, Leo turned to Piper and Paige, "If Chris' memory is coming back; I think that may be the reason why Wyatt can't get close to him. I think Chris' magic, his telekinesis, is protecting him from Wyatt. Almost acting like Wyatt's shield."

"He's never been able to use it like a shield, and if that's true, this is going to change everything between them. We're not going to be able to keep this from everyone else," Piper added, "Paige, can you go see Phoebe and let her know what's going on? It's your decisions, but you both may want to tell you families."

Paige nodded and gave both her sister and then brother-in-law a hug, and then orbed out.

"This is going to tear this family apart. We kept this from everyone" Piper cried into Leo's arms.

"Mom, Dad. Wyatt insisted I come home, and wouldn't even give me time to change. What's wrong?" At Melinda's voice, Piper and Leo turned and faced their oldest and youngest children. Melinda, better known as Lyn, was actually wearing the top she had worn at dinner, and her pajama bottoms. Her shoulder-length brown hair was pulled into a ponytail, and her brown eyes full of concern.

For a moment, Leo was again struck by the complexities of genetics. Three children from the same two parents, and yet none of them looked the same. They had similarities: Chris and Melinda's hair were nearly the same shade of brown; Chris and Wyatt were tall like Leo, while Lyn had kept with the shorter Halliwell genes. Melinda and Wyatt's hair both had the same tendency to curl.

However Wyatt resembled his Grandfather Wyatt, with the dark blond hair, muscular stature and facial features were mostly from his father's side.

Melinda was a good combination of Leo and Piper. Halliwell cheekbones and eyes, but Leo's mother's lips and slightly darker skin tone.

Chris looked so much like Piper and the Halliwell family that Leo still, 24 years later, didn't know how they hadn't realized who Chris really was. Only his height and green eyes were indicative of his father's genes.

"Let's go into the boys' room. I don't want to be far from Chris, when he wakes up." Piper stated, directing Wyatt and Melinda into the room Wyatt and Chris had grown up in, Paige's former room.

Both Piper and Leo looked at their middle child, reluctant to leave, Piper finally tugged on Leo arm pulling him away from the view of Chris on their bed. For Leo it was just too reminiscent of the night Chris died.

When they entered the boys' room Melinda and Wyatt were sitting on Chris' old bed, so Piper and Leo sat on the opposite bed, looking at their children.

"This is going to be hard. Your father and I want you to know that we were trying to protect you three. We, your aunts and I, were trying to protect all of our children." Piper began, and then cut off looking at her husband, unsure of where to begin.

"Some of what we tell you will be familiar. When we were telling you about things, we've edited them to keep this information from you." Leo continued.

"So in other words you've lied to us our entire lives?" Wyatt asked.

"Haven't you always told us that lying and keeping secrets are dangerous, especially in this family?" Melinda added.

"Look, we know you're going to have questions, but we don't know when Chris is going to wake up, and we need to go through this with you two before then, because we don't know if we'll have time when he wakes up." Piper stated, putting an end her children's arguments. "It started when you were four months old, Wyatt."

TBC


	3. Reactions

**The Past Will Haunt You**

Part 3: Reactions

"My baby brother died to save my life, and you never thought to tell me?" Wyatt demanded, after his parents had finished talking about when Chris had come to the past in 2003.

Wyatt had always felt responsible for his brother and sister, whether they were in the middle of a magical fight, or every day life. And while the siblings all loved each other, there had always been a division in their relationship. Wyatt and Chris were close and Melinda and Chris were close, but Wyatt and Melinda had never had never really bonded. Perhaps it was the difference in age, the different magical gifts, or the different views on magic, but whatever the reason the division was there.

Piper and Leo hadn't expected their children to take the information well, but neither had they expected Wyatt to be so angry and Melinda to be so quiet. Wyatt who was always good natured, joking, and happy, and Melinda who was always making noise of some kind were acting nearly opposite of their normal behavior.

"We thought it was in the past, we didn't think there was any reason to tell you. There's never been any indication that anything in that other timeline would affect any of you now." Leo responded.

"Well I guess you guys were wrong." Wyatt retorted.

"Hey! We don't need you throwing that back at us. We are still your parents." Piper responded, cutting her oldest child off, and then looked at her youngest. While Wyatt's response had been angry, Melinda had just sat there quietly. "Lyn? What are you thinking?"

"Where was I?" Melinda quietly asked, while looking at the floor and biting her nails.

"What, sweetie?" Leo asked, recognizing Melinda's bad habit of biting her nail sand fiddling with her hair when nervous.

"Wyatt was evil; Chris came back to the past; where the hell was I?" Melinda's eyes flashed.

"We don't know. There's so much about that timeline that we were never told. Chris kept a lot of secrets. The amount of things we know are few: Wyatt was evil, Chris came back to the past to save him, I died some point before Chris came to the past, and Leo…" Piper trailed off looking over at her husband, letting him choose to continue.

"And I was a horrible father to Chris." Leo finished, knowing that Chris would remember this.

"But you're a great father, and you never favored any of us over the other." Melinda protested.

"But you've always been more protective of Chris, you both have, and I guess now we know the reason. The reason that even though Melinda's the youngest, Chris is the one that you've always thought of as your baby." Wyatt added, suddenly realizing why it was that their mother and father were always so hesitant to let Chris join in magic and demon fighting while they were all growing up.

"Wyatt th-" Leo started but was again cut off by his son.

"And what the hell is going on with that shield around Chris?" Wyatt continued, not even paying attention to his father's words.

"We actually think that's Chris' telekinesis creating the shield, or whatever it is." Leo responded.

"But Chris has never been able to do that with his magic." Melinda refuted.

"When he was here, we didn't even know he was a witch. With Chris, I think he's capable of doing a lot more than he actually does. Maybe he's always been able to, and there was never any need for it to happen." Leo responded.

"But now he needs to protect himself from me? He loves using his magic, I can't imagine him ever not using it." Wyatt just couldn't wrap his mind around the idea of a Chris who wasn't using his magic at every opportunity.

"He went through things we can't imagine. And experiences are a big part of what shapes each of us into the person we become." Leo added.

"We've seen that first hand," Piper related thinking of the changes she had seen in her middle child from when she had first met him to the person he was on his birthday. A Young man who was secretive, distrustful, and in so much pain grow up this time into an honest and happy person. _He still lies, but then everyone does, it's just nowhere near as bad as it was, _Piper thought to herself, hoping that wouldn't change.

"Wyatt, take me back to school." Melinda's statement interrupted all talk of Chris.

"Lyn, you've been so quiet, isn't there—"

"No!" Lyn shouted, interrupting her father, and at the same moment a lamp by Piper exploded.

"Melinda!" Piper didn't yell, but her tone still held reprimand for her daughter.

"I'm sorry. I just need to go back and work on my paper. I can't do anything here anyway, and I just need time." Melinda explained, knowing she should have kept her emotions more in check. "Wyatt?"

"Maybe you should go back too, Wy." Piper relented, knowing her daughter rarely lost control.

"But—" Wyatt tried protesting, using a tone of voice usually reserved for demons, "I'm not leaving Chris alone."

"Don't try that commanding tone with us. We're your parents, and Lyn's right, there's nothing you can do here, and you've got school stuff to do, too." Piper reminded him.

Wyatt pushed his shoulder length hair back and closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself for a moment before he waved his had, sending his sister back to school. Opening his yes and looking at his parents, Wyatt softly uttered, "I can't feel Chris. What if the bond is gone? I've always been tied to him."

"It's not. That bond is based on your brotherhood, and your shared destiny. And regardless of what happens, this timeline and his memories of it will bring the bond back." Leo advised, knowing how much his sons relied on that bond.

"It'll be okay, sweetie." Piper reached up and hugged her son, moments before he orbed out.

"Do you want to stay with Chris? I can clean up?" Leo asked as they walked back into their bedroom and saw Chris, just as still as he had been before.

"No. This has to be hard on you. You were with him when he…died. I'll get the broken dishes, but the cleaning can wait until tomorrow. I'll be back up in a little bit." Piper bent over and kissed Chris on the forehead, smoothing his forehead, with tears in her eyes. "It wasn't enough time."

"I love you." Leo said, looking into his wife's eyes, "It's going to be okay."

Piper nodded, accepted her husband's kiss and left the room, trying to keep the tears from falling.

TBC…

AN: Sorry about the delay, this part has been half written for a while, but it's hard for me to find the time to write. My Dad may be having knee replacement surgery tomorrow, so if that happens I'll be working on the next part while I wait, but I definitely hope to get another part out within a couple of weeks at the most.

Thank you for all the reviews, and I plan on replying to them, I just wanted to get this posted first. Please let me know what you think of this part.


	4. Waiting

Chapter 4: Waiting

It had been a long night and the next morning, while Leo sat with Chris, Piper cleaned up after dinner, not even stopping when her sister's orbed in.

"Sweetie?" Phoebe asked, knowing her sister's emotional state.

"Stop reading me!" Piper ordered, still washing dishes.

"Honey, you're shouting your emotions, and even if you weren't, you're my sister, I don't need to be an empath to know how you're feeling." Phoebe answered.

"How's Chris doing?" Paige asked.

"Chris is still unconscious and Leo's with him now. I just…" And Piper finally broke completely down, sobbing, as Phoebe and Paige encircled her, hugging her until the sobs subsided and Piper calmed.

"Let's go sit down," Paige guided her oldest sister to the couch.

"How did Wy and Lyn take it?" Phoebe asked, smoothing Piper's hair.

"Wyatt was angry and Lyn…she just wanted to go back to school. I don't know if the information sank in, or not. We sent them both back. Lyn said she had a paper to finish and they both have finals." Piper said. "What about your families?"

"I didn't tell them everything. Coop already knew, but I just went into the barest details with the girls, Pen's still so young." Phoebe responded.

"Henry was a little upset I hadn't told him, but he'll get over it. I kept the details down with my kids too, but I think Jr. is just a little miffed."

"Miffed? Why?" Piper laughed, it was just like one of Paige's kids to have an odd reaction.

"Wyatt's twice blessed, Chris is a hero now, and he feels as the only other male Halliwell he can't keep up with them." Paige responded, knowing exactly what Piper was thinking.

"He and Chris always had that camaraderie, "Piper mentioned. "No special titles duo," quoting from when Chris had been 11 and Jr 8.

"He'll get over it, just like his dad." Paige finished. "In this family you need to do that to keep up."

"I'm just worried." Piper sated.

"We're not going to change how we react to Chris. He's still the same guy he's always been, it's just he'll have those memories." Phoebe said, trying to lighten her older sister's mood.

"But he won't be the same. Leo was right. It's our experiences that shape us. Suddenly he's going to have all those memories, and I'm sure a lot of them are going to be bad. He's not going to be the same guy Wyatt and Lyn grew up with. And who knows how he's going to react to Wyatt. Will his memories of this time be enough? It's going to hurt Wyatt so much if Chris rejects him." Piper protested.

"How much sleep did you guys get?" Paige asked.

"None, we spent the entire night hoping he'd wake up. I finally came down here to clean up." Piper responded. "I'm so glad Chris insisted on staying here to help last night. If he'd been out with his friends and this had happened…"

"Speaking of, any calls last night?" Phoebe asked.

"No, Wyatt let us know later that he called Bianca and let her know something magical happened. He said Chris might be unreachable for a while and asked her to make up some story for the rest of Chris' friends, and asked that she contact them. Wyatt said she asked what excuse she should give and Wyatt said he didn't care, as long as she tells us what she said. I think she called Chris' cell this morning." Piper responded, rubbing her eyes. That coupled with the dark circles indicated that she was exhausted, and probably had a headache.

"Look, why don't you and Leo try and get some sleep, and I'll sit with Chris while Phoebe finishes cleaning up." Paige suggested.

"Phoebe?" Piper asked, disbelieving Paige would even suggest it. "I've seen her house."

"Hey! I may not clean to your standards, but I'm not messy!" Phoebe protested. "When Chris is up and about, you can redo the cleaning, if you must. But for now, is it really that important?"

"No, you're right." Piper nodded and led her sisters upstairs. As she entered her bedroom she called out to her husband, "Leo?"

"No change, are you – Phoebe, Paige." Leo interrupted himself, as he turned from the window and saw his wife and her two sisters. He returned their hugs, and watched as they looked at Chris.

"I know he's going to be okay, but… He looks like he did back then. No blood, but he's so still." Paige commented.

"You guys go and try to sleep. When he wakes up he'll need you." Phoebe told them.

As Piper and Leo reluctantly left, Piper told her sisters, "We'll be in the boys' room."

"You want me to relieve you when I'm done?" Phoebe asked.

"No, I've transferred my charges until Chris wakes up, and I'd like to be here today. Just let me know when you want to orb out." Paige told her.

"Orb? Who said I'm going anywhere?" Phoebe asked.

"Please, I know my sister. Once you're done in the kitchen you're going to need an orb." Paige responded.

"I'll let you know." Phoebe said with a smile as she walked out, leaving Paige just watching Chris.

*****

"Yes, thank you Professor, I really appreciate it…I hope so too. Thank you." Melinda finished, hung up the phone, and went straight to her dorm room door, opened it and began speaking before she even looked at the person on the other side of the door. "Hi, Aunt Phoebe, did Mom send you?"

"No, she did mention she was worried about how you were taking the information." Phoebe responded as she walked in.

"I think I'm taking it as well as anyone could after finding out my parents have been keeping something huge from us our entire lives. Add that to the fact that my perfect older brother was evil, my other brother is now a freaking hero, and I probably didn't exist!" Melinda's voice had been getting louder and faster as the words and the emotion came out.

"Hey, we don't know whether you were there or not. Hell, I don't know if I was there or not." Phoebe responded.

"No, but you know that if you weren't there it was because you died, not because you never existed. Did you ever have any indication from Chris that he had a younger sister?"

"No. But there was never any indication he was Piper's son, much less any of the details of the rest of the family." Phoebe responded. "Honey—"

"I just need some time, Aunt Phoebe. This is the reason I hate stupid demon fighting. If it weren't for that our lives would be so much better."

"Lyn—"

"No, I know, magic is a gift, a blessing, but the demons, warlocks, and darklighters aren't. I just got off the phone with my last Professor. I've got two finals this afternoon and moved the other two to tomorrow. I'll turn my paper in and then come home. I just need a couple of days to sort through this."

Phoebe looked at Melinda for a moment, seemingly searching from something in her eyes, before acquiescing to Melinda. "All right, but I'm telling your mother you'll be home Wednesday at the latest."

"Okay, I love you." Melinda smiled as she hugged her aunt, and then gasped as a vision filled her senses.

"Did you see that?" Phoebe asked her.

"Yeah, Dad was punching Chris? And throwing him around? Why would he do that?" Melinda asked. "Not that it matters, we need to keep that from happening."

"Did you pay attention to your father?"

"Yeah, you were all wearing weird outfits."

"And he was really young, we all were. That was right after we got your father out of Valhalla, and left your mother there, obviously we got her back." Phoebe mentioned.

"So that actually happened, Dad beat Chris up?" Melinda asked, the thought ludicrous to her.

"Yes, but Lyn.."

"When would it _ever_ be okay that Dad beat Chris up?" The demanding, accusing tone from Piper's daughter, only showed a fraction of what the teen was actually feeling.

"He didn't know who Chris was, and he was worried about your mother."

"So that makes it okay? I can't believe you're making excuses."

"And I can't believe you're letting your stubbornness get in the way of logic. You were perfectly understanding of your parent's reaction to Bianca when Chris first brought her by the house." Phoebe countered, knowing Chris wouldn't want to wake up to a division between his parents and his siblings.

"That was different. Bianca is a Phoenix, who are known assassins, Mom and Dad were trying to make sure that Chris was safe. I still don't agree with what they did, but it was understandable."

"And while I don't agree with your father, Chris was someone we'd barely known for a couple of days who kept setting things in motion that separated your parents for a while, had your father captive in Valhalla, and then your mother willingly trapped there. Your father was acting in the only way he could to a possible unknown threat. And if we could ever see clearly into the future, and knew who Chris was and is, your father wouldn't have reacted the way he did." Smoothing Melinda's hair back, Phoebe looked at her, taking a moment to get a small it off her niece's emotions. Nothing too deep, but just enough to see if her words were getting through. "And you can't blame him for trying to protect his family."

While Melinda didn't say anything, Phoebe could tell that Melinda was more hurt by her parents' supposed mistruths then the idea that Chris had been hurt. It was well known fact that in the Halliwell family, when protecting the family, you sometimes shoot first and ask questions later. "I'll see you in a few days, Paige!"

Melinda kissed her aunt on the cheek and made her way to her desk, hearing the familiar orbs as Phoebe disappeared in a swirl of orbs.

TBC


End file.
